Love At First Sight
Whether there’s such a thing as love at first sight has always been a mystery, but the creative director and CEO of GANNI are proof of its existence. Ditte Reffstrup and Nicolaj Reffstrup met at a party: the former on the dance floor and the latter sipping beer alone in the corner. It was the magnetic contrast that pulled the two towards each other. A fated encounter turned into a first date, then a shared trip and, alas, a marriage. It was simply love.
The Meet Cute
The couple is happily different: Ditte prefers to cosy up at home while Nicolaj is already planning the next trip abroad; Ditte has always pursued fashion while Nicolaj tried his hand in tech in his past life. Their differences are their lives’ pleasure, and gives each of them the space to shine at work. Ditte is in charge of designing while Nicolaj is responsible for the business aspect. By sticking to their strengths, conflicts rarely occur. “So I guess opposites attract,” Nicolaj says.
The pair’s love story began at a friend’s party. “Nicolaj was in a white shirt sipping a beer in the corner, and I was on the table dancing”, Ditte shared excitedly. It was Nicolaj who made the first move to which he says, “ I was totally charmed by her way of dancing and sense of freedom. She probably thought I was a total nerd, but she gave me a chance anyway.” Sparks flew across the dance floor and they scheduled to meet again the next day. “Nicolaj invited me to the movies,” Ditte recalls, “and I was wearing this weird knitted headband and a vintage dress, and I think we looked like the oddest pair”.
In a mere 7 months, the pair tied the knot. “For us, 7 months flew by! We partied a lot, travelled, and were just living life to its fullest”, Ditte says fondly, “ I remember Nicolaj proposing to me one late night when we had come home from a really fun night. I think I said yes instantly; that was just the energy of our relationship”.
Beautiful Contrast
“When we decided to get married, we had friends placing bets on how soon the relationship would end because we were like oil and water. But here we are, 21 years later, with three kids and a company we have built together,” Nicolaj said. The brand they’ve been running together is none other than GANNI. In 2009, Ditte took up her friend’s offer to design for GANNI when her friend was still running the company. As Ditte put it, “Things happened pretty organically”. The pair of shoes Ditte designed became a huge success, and the rest is history.
“Nicolaj was in tech at the time, and I could see he was frustrated and needed a change, and I had never met anyone as smart as him, so I said to my friend: Let’s bring Nicolaj into GANNI. I was sure he could add a different perspective to the business,” Ditte said. One took charge of GANNI’s designs and the other its business, effectively revamping its brand image and propelling it towards the world stage.
“It’s been a strength for us to have such different backgrounds and capabilities because we have been able to let each other do what we are both best at,” Nicolaj admits, “It’s funny because with work, we never really disagreed that much. Maybe the secret is that we each had such different areas of responsibility, so we never really learned each other’s territory. But one thing I’ll say about Ditte is that even though she seems soft-spoken, when situations get tough she is a force to be reckoned with”.
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - AUGUST 10: A model walks the runway at the Ganni show during the Copenhagen Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024 on August 10, 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Alena Zakirova/WireImage)
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK - AUGUST 10: A model walks the runway at the Ganni show during the Copenhagen Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024 on August 10, 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Alena Zakirova/WireImage)
Translated by Karrie Lam
Editor
Junjie Wang
